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Spirit of KiiPdnis 



DEDICATED 

to 

A Great Builder 

DR. S. S. CURRY 

Founder and President 

of the 
School of Expression 
Boston, Mass 



Copyright 1921 by the 
KIWANIS CLUB, LEXINGTON, KY. 
All Rights Reserved 



SEP -> 1921 



THE SPIRIT OF KIWANIS 




A PATRIOTIC PLAY 
IN ONE ACT 



BY 



EDWARD SAXON 

Head of the Department of Expression in Transylvania College 
and Professor of Public Speaking in the College of the Bible 



LEXINGTON, KY 
1921 



"The Spirit of Kiwanis" was first produced at the Lafayette 
Hotel, Lexington, Ky., on Ladies' Night, May 31, 1921, by a cast 
composed of the following Lexington Kiwanians: 

Professor. G. Allison Holland Banker. E. D. Veach 

Doctor. G. Z. Faulconer Judge. John T. Kincaid 

Merchrnt. Pv. B. Hayes Kiwanis. Edward Saxon 



At the International Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, it was pre^ 
sented in Masonic Temple, Wednesday evening, June 22, 1921, 
by the following gentlemen, members of the Lexington Kiwanis 
Club: 

Professor. W. T. Rainey Banker. E. D. Veach 

Doctor. G. Z. Faulconer Judge. John T. Kincaid 

Merchent. Pv. B. Hayes Kiwanis. Edward Saxon. 



SCENE PLOT 



o o o 

WATER COOLER HAT RACK TELEPHONE 



FOOT LIGHTS 

o o o o 




'CI.D 588 LI 



P-R-O-L-O-G-U-E 



To be spoken by a young lady made up as an Indian Maiden to 
represent the Kiwanis Idea of Justice. She should hold in her left 
hand a small pair of silver scales. A red spot light should be thrown 
upon her face as soon as she appears, and held there until she has 
finished speaking the prologue. 



JUSTICE 



I Represent 

The Kiwanis 

Idea of Justice — 

The Embodiment 

Of a Square Deal 

To Everyman. 

The Purpose 

Of Kiwanis is: 

To teach men 

Everywhere 

The Value 

Of the Golden Rule; 

Applied to Business 

It will put 

The World 

In Poise 

By Correcting Evils 

That Now Exist. 

To Him 

Who Accepts 

This Guidance 

It Shall be 

As a Pillar of Cloud 

By Day 

And a Pillar of Fire 

By Night. 

It Will Lead Him 

Into a Safety Zone 



Where Honesty 

In Business 

Is Its Own Reward. 

The Message 

Of Kiwanis 

Is a Vital One. 

His Heart 

Is Beating 

With Anxiety 

To Give 

His Thoughts 

To You. 



Listen! Listen! 

To What 

He Has To Say. 



A Smile or Two 

And Then— 

To Serious Business 

Is the Purpose 

Of our 

Little Play. 



Before Justice speaks the Prologue a short strain of Indian Music 
might add to the effectiveness of the play. 



THE SPIRIT OF KIWANIS 

SCENE: Club Room of Kiwanis Club. Door R. and door U. L. 

Ottoman It Hat Rack U.R. Water Cooler U. C. Mantel and 

Fireplace L. Divan in front of fireplace. Telephone on stand 

U. L. Discovered at rise of curtain Merchant and Banker 

seated on Ottoman; Doctor on Divan, reading a book. 

(Telephone rings. Nobody answers. It rings again.) 
MERCHANT to BANKER— Somebody is wanted at the 'phone. 

(Telephone continues to ring) 
BANKER— Evidently! (Pointing to Doctor) I'll bet my hat that it 

is the Doctor who is wanted. 
DOCTOR (Lazily) — Yes, I guess it is. Merchants and Bankers have 

their hours for play, but a Doctor has to keep going. 
(Telephone stops ringing) 
BANKER — ^Well I've been in the banking business a long time, and I 

don't yet know how to bowl or play golf; don't even have a 

chance to see a baseball game. 
MERCHANT — I was a baseball player before I became a merchant, 

and I have to see a game occasionally, if my business goes to 

the dogs. 

(Telephone rings again) 

DOCTOR — (grumbling, throws book on divan and goes to telephone) 
Hello! (Telephone continues to ring, Doctor yells) Hello! 
Hello! (Telephone stops ringing), Yes, this is the Doctor. 
Wait a minute. (Puts hand over receiver. Speaks to Merchant 
and Banker) It's Billy Smith. He has a case of nerves. (Re- 
moves hand from receiver; speaks very pleasantly) Now, 
what is it? (Listens) Yes. (Listens) Well, my dear boy, you 
must get some sleep. (Listens) Yes and take a tepid bath, and 
go to bed. I think you will rest better tonight. (Listens) Try 
it and see. I'll see you in the morning. Good-bye. (Comes 
back to divan) He wants some dope, but he will not get it 
from me. 

(Enter Judge L.) 

JUDGE— Hello, Boys! 

BANKER and MERCHANT— Hello! Hello! 

DOCTOR — (Picking up book again, sits on divan) Hello, Judge. 

JUDGE — (Taking off overcoat and hanging it on rack at U. R.) Has 
the Professor arrived? (Goes to cooler and takes drink). 

MERCHANT — Not Yet. I guess he is communing with the spirits? 

JUDGE— With what? 

MERCHANT — Spirits. He is going to hold a seance here tonight. 

JUDGE — That's news to me. I didn't know he was a spiritualist. 

DOCTOR — Bah! _ Do you fellows think that he can communicate 
with the spirit world? Do you think anybody can? 

MERCHANT — I don't know. I went to a Medium once and was 
advised ito buy some oil stock. 

BANKER— Did you buy? 

MERCHANT— Yes. 

JUDGE— Wh,at happened tben? 

MERCHANT— I am ashamed to tell you. 

ALI^Ha, Ha. 

BANKER — O, there might be something in spiritualism. Prof. 
Charles Elliott Martin, of Harvard, was an enthusiastic spiritu- 
alist, I've been told, and he was a great thinker and educator. 



MERCHANT — There are a great many thinkers and educators who 
don't know much about the business life of the town in which 
they live. Th,ey know more about the Appian Way than of the 
way to success. What became of that Professor? 
DOCTOR— He died, and was buried. 
JUDGE— Yes, he's dead. 

DOCTOR — But he promised bis followers before he died that as soon 
as he reached that "undiscovered country from whose bourn no 
traveler returns" he would communicate with them. I suppose 
he thought he would make some startling revelations. Has he 
done it? No! He did all the communicating he could while 
he was on Earth. 
BANKER — Well, I, for on'C, am willing to give oar Professor a 

chance. He might furnish us a little amusement at any rate. 
DOCTOR — I, too, am willing to give him a chance, and just to prove 
my willingness, I'll propose an easy test, I'll ask him to siim- 
mon the spirit of Kiwanis. 
JUDGE — That is an easy test; for the spirit of Kiwanis is always here: 

"I pledge Allegiance." 
ALL — "I pledge allegiance." 
JUDGE— "To tbe American Flag." 
ALL— "To the American Flag." 

JUDGE— "And to th^ Republic for which it stands." 
ALL — "And to the Republic for which it stands." 
JUDGE— "One nation, indivisible." 
ALL — "One nation, indivisible." 
JUDGE— "With liberty and justice to all." 
ALL— "With liberty and justice to all." 

MERCHANT — Good, we ought to take advantage of every opportu- 
nity to give expression to our patriotic principles. 
DOCTOR — That's right. I believe in principles. Is there a single 
principle in spiritualism upon which we can rely? Not one. I 
believe that fundamental principles in life are eternal, and those 
of us who can identify ourselves with these principles, or truths, 
are usually successful and happy; those of us whiO do not iden- 
tify ourselves with truth, fail — fail to realize our own powers; 
fail to get into rhythm with life; fail in everything. 
BANKER — The Doctor has expressed my sentiments exactly. Suc- 
cess depends upon the man. 
JUDGE — Few of us believe that we can hold intercourse with de- 
parted spirits; but Kiwanis is not a departed spirit. He is here, 
breathing this atmosphere, growing every hour. 
DOCTOR— I agree with, Hut ton that "What is called spiritualism, 

should be called a mental species of materialism." 
MERCHANT — You fellows are getting too deep for me! (Goes to 
water cooler.) Can't we discuss the markets, freight rates, or 
something else that is of real interest to the business man? 
DOCTOR — Telephone rates are going up. 
JUDGE — House rent is coming down. 
MERCHANT— Why not add that eggs are dropping? 

(Goes U. R. to water cooler) 
ALL— Ha! Ha! 

MERCHANT— (Indicating door L.) The Professor is here, and he'll 
put an end to all our arguments. 

(Enter Professor L. goes to C.) 
PROFESSOR—Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys? 



DOCTOR— (Reading Book). If there has, throw him out without 

making a noise. 
JUDGE — Hang the almanac's cheat and the catalogue's spite. 
BANKER — Old Time is a liar, we are twenty tonight. 
MERCHANT — We are twenty, we are twenty! Who says we are 

more? Ha! Ha! 
DOCTOR — (Pointing to Merchant). He's tipsy, young Jackanapes, 

show him the door! 
JUDGE— Gray temples at twenty? 
BANKER— Yes, white if we please. 
PROFESSOR— Where the snowflakes fall thickest. 
There's nothing can freeze, 
Was it snowing I spoke of — ? 
Excuse the mistake, 
BANKER — Look, close, you will see not the sign of a flake! 
MERCHANT — We want some new garlands for those we have shed. 
DOCTOR — And these are white roses in place of the red. 
PROFESSOR— (To Audience). We've a trick, we young fellows. 
You may have been told 
Of talking in public 
As if we were old. 
That boy, we call Doctor, 
This, we call Judge. 
DOCTOR— It's a neat little fiction. 
JUDGE— Of course, it's all fudge. 
MERCHANT— (R. Laughs). 
PROFESSOR— You hear that boy laughing? 

You think he's all fun. 
BANKER— But the angels laugh too 
At the good he has done. 
DOCTOR— The children laugh loud 

As they troop to his call. 
JUDGE — And the poor man that knows him 

Laughs loudest of all. 
PROFESSOR— Yes, Holmes was right, 
We are boys. 

Always playing with tongue or with, pen 
And I sometimes have asked shall we ever be men? 
Shall we always be laughing, and youthful and gay 
*Till our last dear companion drops smiling away. 
MERCHANT— Then here's to our boyhood, 
DOCTOR— Its gold and its gray, 
JUDGE — The snows of its winter, 
BANKER— The dews of its May. 
PROFESSOR— And when we have done 
With our life lasting toys 
Dear Father take care of thy children — 
The Boys. 
(Goes to water cooler). Merchant and Banker cross to L.) 
JUDGE — (L) Now, Professor, we are ready for the seance. 
The Doctor there is doubtful of your power 
To converse with spirits. 
He has therefore proposed a test 
To which we've all agreed. 
PROFESSOR— A test? (At water cooler.) ... 



DOCTOR— Yes, that KIwanis, our great Indian Chief, 

Be petitioned to appear. 
PROFESSOR— (C) The test is not a test at all: 

For our beloved Chief is here. 
He is here! He is here! 
Kiwanis, our beloved Chief is here! 

(Lights out. Spot-light thrown on Door L. Kiwanis, during 
the moment of darkness, enters and stands inside th,e door, 
where the spot-light strikes him full in the face.) 
ALIy — (Whisper). — Kiwanis! Kiwanis! 
KIWANIS— Are you surprised that I am here? 
Know you not 

That wheresoe'er good-fellowship is found 
I dwell, and serve, and build? 
PROFESSOR— That principle we adore: 

That's why we gather here — to plan, to build. 
This Club, our rendezvous 
^^^..r . ..^« ^ -^^ ^° "^ ^ happy half-way place to heaven. 
KIWANIS — I perceive in you 

The choicest spirits 
Of these times, 
When the world needs men 
Of constructive minds 
To build. 
PROFESSOR— But how, Kiwanis, how? 

How shall we build? 
KIWANIS — Create within yourselves a spiritual Poise — 

Character worthy of a woman's love and trust. 
This is the first requisite 
Of manhood 

And of home-life, undefiled. 
Pollute not your imaginations 
By thinking unclean thoughts. 
Give not expression to the carnal mind. 
The fleshly-minded man 
Knows not the joys of home — 
The unhappy wife 
Recoils from his embrace; 
His children; blush 
At mention of his name; 
And in the silence of the night 
Or in company with his friends 
His conscience whispers: 
"I am filthy, filthy to the core." 
(All Eights Out.) 
KIWANIS— Despair! Agony! Death! 

(Bell tolls) 

Oh, the blackness 

Of this darkness — 

It is— Hell. 
PROFESSOR— We know such men, 

But their fellowship we shun. 
(Eights On.) 
KIWANIS— Then Wisdom 

The great Architect of character 

Has instructed you. 

Eet Wisdom build your homes. 



PROFESSOR— What of our community— 

Our business life? 
KIWANIS — Your business life comes first: 

For it is there your virtues will be seen. 
With sober zeal, integrity, and worth, 
Conduct your business. 
On the Highest Plane, 
Remembering this: 
The man who cheats his neighbor 
Robs himself 
Of moral fiber 
He can ill afford to lose. 
Th;e Grafter and the Profiteer, 
Disloyal 

To their Country's Flag, 
Selfish and Unrepentant — 
Are human Rubbish 
Fit for nothing 
But the flames 
That Rise 
In Hellish Fury 
From a lake of Fire. 
PROFESSOR— Horrible! Horrible! 
What shall we do 
To save our business men 
From such a fate? 
KIWANIS— Tell thern 

To identify '■ 

Themselves with Truth. 
Teach them this: 
"Whatsoever ye would 
That men should do to you, 
Do ye even so to them." 
Square dealing then, 
Should be your aim 
While mingling with your fellowmen 
In all the marts of trade. 
PROFESSOR— Thanks, thanks, Kiwanis, 

Square-dealing has brought success to us. 
But what of the community 
In which we live? 
KIWANIS— Of that community 

Be a wholesome part. 

Unite constructive forces. 

Co-operate in every movement 

For the Public good. 

The principles of Kiwanis 

Will prevail. 

Co-operation is the harmony 

Of Neighborhoods, 

The poetry of a city's life. 

The expression of a brother's love — 

His willingness to serve. 

The glory of united eflfort 

Is seen 

In clean and well-kept streets, 

In public schools, 



Hospitals, Libraries, Parks, 

Monuments and other works of Art 

That inspire and educate the young. 

Be not afraid to serve. 

Employ your talents for the Public Good. 

Capacities unused 

Will go to waste. 

Service is not sacrifice 

It is the ndblest form 

Of self-activity. 

Serve your City and your Country well 

And you will add 

A strength, a Power, 

To what you have 

That will win 

The Approbation 

Of God himself. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

My message is delivered. 

But of the future 

I would speak before I go: 

With optimistic vision 

I foresee 

This great Republic of the West 

Leading all the nations 

Of the Earth 

To Liberty and Peace! 

In reverence then 

Salute your Country's Flag!* 

(Spot Light on Flag.) 

Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! 

Remem;ber the principles, ofKiwanis! 
(Lights go out as American Flag is shown in background). 
ALI^-I pledge allegiance to the American Flag and to the Republic 
for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and 
Justice to all. 

*NOTE— An electric flag placed on the wall at back is very effective; 
but if this cannot be secured, an ordinary American flag 
will do. 



